Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/336

 II. FINANCE AND COMMERCE OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES.

The following statistics relating to the financial and commercial condition of various countries have been put together for convenience of reference, not for the purpose of comparison. Revenue and expenditure, which in some states are raised and expended by local authorities, are in others included in the national accounts; debt in some countries is incurred merely for the sake of Profitable investment, While in others it is unproductive and burdensome; in some states the creditors are citizens, while in others they are foreigners; debt charges generally include more or less amortisation, but sometimes only the interest is stated. With respect to trade, the figures in general (though not invariably) show the special imports (or those for home consumption), and the special exports (or  those of home produce and manufactures). For the United Kingdom the general imports are given, and the exports of the produce and manufactures of the Kingdom. Specie and bullion are generally (not invariably) excluded. For the United Kingdom the values are the declared values; for the United States and Japan the invoice values; for other countries generally official values, each country having its own system of valuation. The statistics are, in most cases, for the calendar year 1897, or the fiscal vear 1897-98.